RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ: THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

November 23, 2011

The third type of stem is the frequentative stem, also called the called the “L-stem.” It correlates to Form-III in Arabic (فاعل). It’s characterized by a lengthening of the first radical in the root. This stem typically carries a frequentative meaning. For example, the simple verb ቀተለ (qetele) means "to kill" – thefrequentative form, ቀተለ (qatele), means "to continuously kill, to persist in killing.”

November 9, 2011

The Intensive verb form, also called the “D-stem”, correlates to the D-stem in Aramaic (קִטֵּל), the Pi’el in Hebrew (פִעֵל) and the Form-II in Arabic (فعّل). It’s characterized by a doubling of the second radical in the root. Unlike these other scripts however, the Ethiopic script does not mark doubled sound (with a dagesh or shadda) which can cause some ambiguity. The intensive form of the verb typically denotes some kind of intensity, but this is not always the case. For example, the simple verb ቀተለ (qetele) means "to kill" -- the intensive form, ቀተለ (qettele), means "to annihilate, to kill off completely" etc.

ገሠጸ[geššeşe = to teach] – D-stem, Perfect

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1st Person

ገሠጽኩ

geššeşku

ገሠጽነ

geššeşne

2ndPerson

ገሠጽከ

geššeşke(m.)

ገሠጽክሙ

geššeşkəmu(m.)

ገሠጽኪ

geššeşki(f.)

ገሠጽክን

geššeşkən(f.)

3rdPerson

ገሠጸ

geššeşe(m.)

ገሠጹ

geššeşu(m.)

ገሠጸት

geššeşet(f.)

ገሠጻ

geššeşa(f.)

Here’s a list of some oft-appearing D-stem verbs to get started with. From now on, I’ll put [D] next to new verbs that occur in this stem.

November 4, 2011

I thought I should pause here to review what's been covered so far. These seven sentences are based on the grammatical structures and vocabulary put up in the blog entries up to this point. I hope things are starting to look more transparent now!

As in
other Semitic languages, possession in Ge’ez is typically indicated through a
set of pronominal suffixes added directly on to the noun:

12.1:
Here are all the possessive pronominal suffixes. Some of them have accusative
forms which are indicated in the parenthesis: <X>

ቤትየ

betya

my house

ቤትነ

<ቤተነ>

betna

<betana>

our house

ቤትከ

<ቤተከ>

betka

<betaka>

your (m.) house

ቤትክሙ

<ቤተክሙ>

betkəmu

<betakəmu>

your (m. pl.) house

ቤትኪ

<ቤተኪ>

betki

<betaki>

your (f.) house

ቤትክን

<ቤተክን>

betkən

<betakən>

your (f. pl.) house

ቤቱ

<ቤቶ>

Betu

<beto>

his house

ቤቶሙ

betomu

their (m.) house

ቤታ

betā

her house

ቤቶን

beton

their (f.) house

12.2:
Nouns that end in a vowel take a helping consonant -h- in all the 3rdperson possessions. For
instance, with the word “ምንዳቤ” (məndābe =anguish, suffering, affliction.) There are no
distinct accusative forms for nouns that end in vowels:

ምንዳቤሁ

məndābehu

His anguish

ምንዳቤሆሙ

məndābehomu

Their (m.) anguish

ምንዳቤሃ

məndābeha

Her anguish

ምንዳቤሆን

məndābehon

Their (f.) anguish

12.3: The
only exceptions are nouns that end in the vowel –i. In 2ndperson possessions, the
accusative form replaces the -i with an -e:

ዝንቱ፡ጸሓፊከ፡ውእቱ።

Zəntuşaḥāfika wə’ətu

This is your scribe.

à

ረከብኩ፡ጸሓፌከ።

rakabku şaḥāfeka

I found your
scribe.

12.4:All plurals, both regular and broken,takethe vowel–i(h)-before forallpronomial suffixes above(12.1). They have no distinct accusative
forms:

ሊቃኒየ

liqāniya

myelders

ሊቃኒነ

liqānina

ourelders

ነቢያቲከ

nabiyātika

your (m.) prophets

ነቢያቲክሙ

nabiyātikəmu

your (m. pl.) prophets

አህጉሪሃ

ahgurihā

her cities

አህጉሪሆን

ahgurihon

their (f. pl.) cities

12.5:
Most biconsonantal nouns take the vowel –u(h)- before the pronominal suffixes
above (12.1). In the accusative form, they vowel changes to –a(h)-.

አቡየ፡በቤትየ፡ውእቱ።

abuya babetya wə’ətu

My father is in my house.

à

ረእየኩ፡አባየ።

ra'yaku abaya

I saw my father.

በጽሐ፡እኁሁ።

başḥa əxuhu

His brother arrived.

à

መርሐ፡እኁየ፡እኋሁ።

marḥa əxuye əxʷahu

My brother led his brother.

12.6: The
preposition “la-” has a distinct set of pronominal suffixes:

The Learner // ተመሃሪ // Tamahāri

I came across the rich Classical Ethiopic corpus in the course of my doctoral research and was immediately taken with Ge'ez language. There are very few resources on the language and this blog is a step to remedy that by providing an easier entry-point for other Ge'ez-aficionados! I hope you find it helpful in your work and I invite your corrections and suggestions for improvement.